ABSTRACT
Background This study analyses the association between ABO blood group phenotypes in relation to placental malaria pathology. Methods A total of 198 mother/child pairs delivering in Banjul and the Kombo-St Mary District (The Gambia) were analysed. ABO blood group was measured by agglutination. Placental malaria parasites were enumerated and the presence of malaria pigment noted. Birth anthropometry was recorded and placental weight. Maternal and infant haemoglobin was measured. Results 89 (45) subjects were primiparae and 110 (55) multiparae. The ABO phenotype distribution was 38(A); 52(B); 6(AB) and 102(O). Placental histo-pathology showed active placental malaria in 74 (37); past infection in 42 (21) and no infection in 82 cases (41). In primiparae; blood group O was associated with a higher risk of active infection (OR= 2.99; 95CI= 1.24-7.25); and a lower risk of past infection (OR = 0.31; 0.10-1.01; p0.05). In multiparae; the O phenotype was associated with reduced prevalence of active or past placental infection (OR
Subject(s)
Child Welfare , Malaria , Pregnancy , Women's HealthABSTRACT
A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate current breastfeeding practices among a population in a remote rural area of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Three hundred and ninety-five women with children aged less than 36 months were studied. Mothers were interviewed and anthropometric status of children was assessed. Seventy per cent of them were from a hill-tribe ethnic group and 30 per cent were Thai. The results showed that breastfeeding was highly prevalent amongst the hill-tribe population especially in uneducated multiparous women. Only 53.6 per cent of children were exclusively breastfed in the first six months of life. Breastfeeding tended to be continued until or beyond the age of one year but complemented with other foods. For children aged up to 6 months, the prevalence of undernutrition, wasting and stunting in the exclusively breastfed group was 0.0 per cent, 1.9 per cent and 7.7 per cent, respectively, compared to 2.1 per cent, 4.3 per cent and 8.5 per cent, respectively in partial/ non-breastfed children (p > 0.05). For children aged between 7-12 months, the undernutrition, wasting, and stunting in the exclusively breastfed group was 23.1 per cent, 15.4 per cent and 7.7 per cent, respectively, compared to 13.4 per cent, 7.3 per cent and 9.8 per cent, respectively in partial/non-breastfed children (p > 0.05). For children older than one year (n = 201), 12 were exclusively breastfed and six of them were undernourished. In the partial/non-breastfed group, 70 of 189 were undernourished (p > 0.05). The results showed that children were more likely to be malnourished as age increases in either exclusively breastfed or partial/non-breastfed group. This may not be a breastfeeding issue but the weaning practices. Appropriate food supplementation and correct weaning practices are essential in order to maintain nutritional status in children beyond six months of age.